Bengaluru Startup Unveils India’s First Privately Built Fusion Tokamak

# Bengaluru Startup Unveils India’s First Privately Built Fusion Tokamak ### Why in News? Bengaluru startup **Pranos** unveiled **PRAGYA**, described in the source as India’s first privately built **nuclear-fusion tokamak**. ### Key Details - A **tokamak** is a doughnut-shaped device that uses powerful magnetic fields to confine extremely hot **plasma** for nuclear-fusion experiments. - **Nuclear fusion** releases energy by combining light atomic nuclei—the process that powers the Sun—and is being researched as a potential low-carbon energy source. - PRAGYA is a test bed for studying plasma behaviour, including **density, pressure and temperature**. - Pranos aims to develop a larger **net-gain fusion reactor**, meaning a reactor that produces more fusion energy than the energy directly supplied to sustain the reaction. - India’s government-led tokamak research includes **Aditya-U and SST-1** at the Institute for Plasma Research in Gandhinagar. ### Exam Connect - **Tokamak** → magnetic-confinement device for nuclear fusion - **ITER** → international fusion research project; India is one of its seven member entities - **Institute for Plasma Research** → Gandhinagar, Gujarat